False Memory
by Lucy Labrador
Summary: Shadow struggles with his identity after he realises that the memories he had before his amnesia were actually false. Meanwhile, the Government is up to something regarding the sapients of earth. - - Set after Shadow the Hedgehog, an alternate take on his past.
1. Chapter 1

Shadow blinked a several times as he listened to the Commander in disbelief. The human was making some horrible accusations against him. Supposedly, Shadow had killed Maria. Shadow didn't quite remember all of the events on the ARK, but he was pretty sure that he was not the killer. Why would he kill someone he loved? Shadow could tell, that from the emotion within his flashbacks, that this 'Maria' girl, was very important to him once.

"Maria was like a sister to me," the Commander said angrily. This made Shadow frown, he could have sworn he didn't remember anyone else being so close to Maria. Sure, he'd lost most of his memory, but… he was sure that Maria did not have any other friends. "And because of you, she was killed."

Now this… made Shadow's blood boil. As it would for any person who'd been accused of something they hadn't done. The statement could have been interpreted to mean that Shadow was the indirect cause of Maria's death but… the hedgehog knew what the Commander was getting at, and Shadow could see that the Commander wanted him to pay for it. The high level of anger suggested the more serious accusation.

The Commander went on to explain his reasons… to which Shadow listened for the most part. But when the hedgehog engaged with this story, to give his feedback, the Commander was less than pleased. He yelled while waving his gun about, the weapon which Shadow was very wary of. The hedgehog had dropped his weapons, which, by then, regretted.

"You don't fool me with your innocence," the Commander yelled. "Not only was Maria killed, but so was my family!" He pointed the gun at Shadow… aimed to kill. "Finally, justice is served!"

The bang echoed through the large room they stood in on the ARK. Shadow was well out of the Commander's view. The nam was taken by surprise, and jumped at the sudden disappearance.

But Shadow was right behind him, not harmed at all. He had his arms crossed and he was looking down, as if the situation didn't unnerve him. He caught the Commander's attention by speaking up.

"If what you say is true, then I will respectfully accept my fate," Shadow said, trying to sound as genuine as possible. But he knew that the Commander was wrong, and that he would not have to accept this fate.

"You mean to tell me that you really don't remember a thing?" the Commander asked, sounding perplexed. Shadow smirked, but hid it as well as he could, it had worked. But he wiped the smirk of his face to speak, or it would have shown in his speech.

"But I need some time… to uncover the real truth," Shadow said, then let his arms drop to the sides, and walked out slowly. He left the Commander to feel guilty about the hard time he'd given him. Besides, there were more important things to do. He had to find Black Doom.

…

After a long and tiring run through the ARK, Shadow managed to reach the Computer room, where Black Doom was floating in the middle.

"What is this defiance!?" he boomed. Shadow plucked up the courage to speak.

"Black Doom, I need to know the truth," he began seriously, there was a clear hint of urgency. "Do the humans refer to me as 'The Evil One'? Tell me, I need to know!" Shadow was just looking for that confirmation, and he was sure he would get it. The Commander was wrong!

"It is true!" Those words made Shadow's stomach churn. "I created you, so it is only natural for you have 'evil' tendencies." Shadow felt his whole world fall apart within his head. Had his memories lied to him? His memories were his world, and for them to be wrong, was the destruction of his world.

"D-does that mean…?" Shadow said lowly as he looked down. He didn't want to finish his sentence, he could say those words. Just thinking of the words made him want to vomit.

"Yes. You are the one who caused the tragedy on the ARK," Black Doom said. Shadow's breath was caught in his throat. He looked up, accepting his fate.

"If that's true, I'll have to accept the responsibility for my crimes," Shadow said boldly. He was different now, and did not agree with his past actions. "I will avenge the victims who… died on the ARK on that tragic day." Shadow had paused, as he thought about the wording of his sentence. He was going to say 'the victims who I-' He couldn't even bring himself to think it.

"The humans seemed to have convinced you with this…. moral absurdity," Black Doom said in disappointment. "Therefore I have no choice but to kill you too!" He swiped his large hand to the side. At that, adrenaline shot through Shadow's veins and energised him for the fight to come. He jumped into action; he had to stick by his word and make up for what he had done 50 years ago.

...

It didn't take long for Shadow to defeat Black Doom. The alien lied on the floor, while Shadow took his emerald. All seven were glowing while they floated around Shadow in a circle.

"Shadow, this isn't over yet!" Black Doom said through his heavy breaths. "The Black Arms will rise again!"

"I am Shadow the Hedgehog. A research experiment gone deadly wrong," Shadow said ashamedly. "I've caused so much destruction; I should never have been created. This is who I am."

At that, GUN soldiers began storming the room. They ran across the large floor with guns at the ready. Shadow turned to look at them all, and began walking towards them shamefully. Vector, whose presence Shadow had forgotten about, spoke up.

"Hey! Don't go there yet. Things may not be what they seem. You could be innocent!" Vector cried out, but Shadow didn't think much of his words. Of course he was guilty. He was the one who was responsible for the death of the people on the ARK, and there was no way around it.

Shadow walked past the swarms of soldiers, like swimming up the stream. Some of them, stopped in front of Shadow. The hedgehog looked up at them slowly, as if to acknowledge their existence, then looked down again. He felt like dirt, unworthy to look at other living things. The only person he felt superior to, was Black Doom, who would be worm-food soon enough. Shadow didn't flinch at all when he heard the stream of bullets banging loudly before they all hit Black Doom's body. GUN was finishing the alien off, while Shadow awaited his fate.

When quiet fell on the area, the Commander walked into the room quickly. He stopped for a moment when he saw Shadow, in the shameful, surrendering position. When Shadow saw him at the corner of his eye, he put up his hands.

"There, you have what you want," Shadow said monotonously. "Take me in. Kill me. Torture me. Whatever you humans do to criminals like me."

The Commander was smirking as he walked right up to Shadow. The soldiers stepped apart, giving the higher-positioned human the room to approach.

"There's no way out of it now, Shadow," the Commander said as he pulled handcuffs out of his trousers pocket. Shadow felt his heart rate increase as the Commander clipped the cuffs around Shadow's wrists. "I'd like to take you up on your offer. You're coming with us."

Shadow silently hoped that the Commander wasn't taking him up on the 'torture' offer, and was instead going for the 'take me in' offer. Perhaps he was getting taken back to Prison Island, and that would be the end of it. The hedgehog was filled with dread during the ride back down to Earth, and even more dread as he was brought to GUN HQ. This wasn't Prison Island, and he would not be given a peaceful ending in the cryochamber again.

The Commander shoved Shadow into a small room and slammed the door behind him. Shadow hit the wall then slid to the floor, falling to his hands and knees. It was dark in this hard, cold, concrete room. His knees were grazed and his head ached from the collision with the close wall. He turned his head to look over his shoulder, to see a small window at average human eye-height. It let in enough light for Shadow to see that the room he was in, was very small. There was enough room to sit, stand, and lie down. But not walk. A human would have found the space even more constraining.

Shadow flopped onto the floor and curled up.

"I killed…" he whispered. "I killed her." He felt his heart twitch, wrench, and tug inside of him. His whole body shivered and his eyes filled with tears. "I… killed her," he repeated as his grit his teeth. "Why? Why would I kill someone I love so much!"

Then he choked in pain as his head hurt. A sharp wave of agony shot through it, but it seemed to circle his brain, remaining. Shadow closed his eyes tight and grit his teeth to try and bare it. He put his hands on his head and pushed on his skull. He hadn't felt this much pain since-

Shadow screamed as he remembered something horrible. Professor Gerald… wiping his memory. This was something, Shadow felt, he was not meant to see, was not meant to remember. Like he'd entered a forbidden zone in his mind.

"No! What did you do to me!?" he yelled and tugged at his ears. "STOP!" The memory played in his mind, it felt as if he was there. "NO!"

Shadow attempted to pull his arm away as the Professor grabbed it, but his arm stayed in the same place. Like a bad dream he had no control of. A sharp pain occurred in the inside of the joint, the most sensitive part, the part with the veins. His memory flashed forward slightly, and Shadow rubbed his arm. Then a separate needle was administered… into his skull. Shadow screamed in agony as he was pushed against the wall, and he could do nothing to stop the Professor from digging deeper and deeper, until he hit the brain.

Shadow felt himself back in his present body, and he shook about like crazy. He stopped when he realised that it was over.

"You'll be someone completely new, Shadow," the Professor's voice echoed in his mind. "This will allow you to survive, and integrate into their society. Until necessary. Then, you will strike."

"It hurt…" Shadow mumbled, out loud, and in his mind. He heard his own voice doubly, it echoed.

"Well, you did kill my granddaughter," Gerald said in a snarky tone. "I suppose that makes us just about even."

"No… it doesn't," Shadow mumbled, but there was no voice of the past to back it up.

"The new memories should take effect soon. Get into the escape pod."

Shadow's breathing quickened.

"No. That's not how it happened," he panicked. "I didn't- that's not me- the professor wouldn't-" he couldn't even finish his sentences.

The door swung open, and Shadow straightened up to look behind him.

"You look a mess. We haven't even started yet," the Commander said with a cruel smirk.

"Do as you wish. I deserve what I get," Shadow said overdramatically.

"Oh, shut up," the Commander said harshly, then bent down and picked Shadow up by the scruff of his neck. Shadow curled up slightly in his grip. "You've become pathetic all of a sudden." Shadow just hissed in pain in response. He didn't actually have a scruff of the neck… but he did have back spines, and it hurt to be picked up by them. It rendered him vulnerable too. But he didn't fight it; he felt he deserved it.

"The Professor he…" Shadow mumbled.

"Save it, Shadow. I don't care," the Commander said as he carried Shadow down the corridor.

"He… changed my memories. I… really killed her," Shadow said. "I thought she loved me." He sounded hurt, and all of his feelings were pouring out. Shadow was in a bad place to be opening up in such a situation. Tears dripped from his cheeks, leaving a trail of tear drops behind him. "She never even knew me."


	2. Chapter 2

Shadow stood in the instruction room with Rouge. The hedgehog had a black eye and a split lip. Rouge noticed and hissed, empathising with Shadow's pain.

"Oh, how did you manage all of this, Shadow?" Rouge asked as she stood in front of Shadow. Her face was close to his as she closely examined his cuts and bruises.

"It happened while fighting Black Doom," Shadow stated, wary of the fact that the Commander was standing in the doorway, holding two envelopes. Rouge chuckled as she took one last look at it and stood beside him, facing the door again. The Commander stepped inside.

"The way those bruises are shaped, you'd think Black Doom had human fists or something," she said in humour. Shadow nodded and glanced at the Commander. The man cleared his throat and stepped in front of them.

"There's no time for joking. The two of you have a mission," the Commander said as he passed both of them their envelopes. Shadow accepted it, sighed, and looked down. His first mission to pay back society for what he'd done. "It's to help clean up after the Black Arms."

"Huh? Couldn't our expertise be used elsewhere?" Rouge asked, empty fist tightening defensively.

"That's not needed at the moment," the Commander stated as he put his shoulders back. "So you two will be joining the rest of your type." He gave a smug smile at the two of them.

Shadow narrowed his eyes slightly in annoyance. Rouge huffed, stomped her foot slightly and flicked her head to the side.

"The two of you are being punished," The Commander stated. "Not all of your missions are going to be fun." At that, he left. Rouge frowned as she opened up her envelope and read the sheets of paper inside.

"What did you do?" Shadow asked as he turned to look straight at her. Rouge glanced at Shadow irritably.

"What makes you think I've done something?" Rouge asked as she looked back at her assignment.

"The way he spoke to us," Shadow said. "We're not here because of good behaviour." He looked away thoughtfully.

"Aren't you going to read your assignment?" Rouge asked. Shadow threw the envelope on the floor.

"It's probably the same as yours," Shadow said. "I'll follow you."

"Shadow, you can't just guess like that. They'll throw you in a cell," Rouge said urgently. Shadow nodded in acknowledgement, then he picked the envelope back up.

"Has that happened to you before?" Shadow asked. There was no answer from Rouge, so he looked straight at her. "Well?"

"Yes," she sighed.

"And they wouldn't do that to the usual employee," Shadow said. "What did you do?" He opened his own envelope.

"Stole some gems," she said through gritted teeth. Then she turned and smirked at him. "What did you do?

Shadow was reading his own papers, not paying attention to Rouge.

"Shadow?" she snapped. Shadow glanced at her.

"What?" he said monotonously as he continued to read.

"I told you what I did. Now you tell me what you did," Rouge said. Shadow was silent, still looking at his paper.

"Clean up in Westopolis," he said.

"What?" Rouge looked at him confusedly.

"Do you have the same?"

"What?"

"The mission. Clean up in Westopolis." Rouge sighed.

"Yes, but what did you do?"

Shadow dropped his envelope on the floor.

"You know what I did," Shadow said as he looked to the door, avoiding eye contact. "You were there."

"So you remember everything now?" Rouge asked.

"I bet it was you that told them," Shadow said. Rouge huffed. "Don't worry, I'm not mad." He walked to the door, but stopped and turned around. He smirked at her. "They probably would have thrown you in the cells if you didn't." Rouge narrowed her eyes at him, so Shadow rushed down the hallway.

"Don't leave without me!" Shadow heard her call after him, then her heels clicked quickly on the hard floor. Shadow ran ahead without her, glad to drop the subject before he could tell her what he'd _really_ done.

…

"Are you sure you should be wearing that outfit?" Shadow asked Rouge as he watched her closely. His eyes scanned her body over. Rouge was hauling rubble from the wreckage of a building that once was. She dumped a large piece of concrete into rubbish skip, then huffed and looked at Shadow.

"You'd better not be looking at what I think you are," Rouge said.

"I might have… looked over them," Shadow smirked. "But if you have them on show like that…"

"Ugh, I should have known you were just like the rest of them," Rouge said in disgust.

"What's wrong with looking at your arms?" Shadow asked. Rouge raised a brow at him. "Oh, you thought I was talking about something else. Perhaps you're the one with the dirty mind."

Rouge's eyes widened in anger, she looked as if she wanted to smack him. Preferably with the biggest piece of rubble she could find. But Shadow would always lift a bigger one. He bent down and lifted up a huge fragment. It was ten times his size in terms of surface area, but it was thin. It was most likely part of a wall. He threw it to the skip, it caused a loud crash, and then crumbled.

"Hey, be careful, you might hit someone!" Rouge yelled.

"I won't. I aimed for the skip, not 'someone,'" Shadow remarked. Then he looked back at Rouge. "That outfit of yours is getting a bit dirty. Regret wearing it now?" There was grey and light brown dust all over her clothes and fur, tinting all of the colours.

"Uh, what about you?" Rouge asked. Shadow suddenly looked at his arms and down at his abdomen and legs in concern. His black fur has been tinted grey.

"Damn…" he hissed and brushed his hands over himself quickly, but it didn't make much difference. Then he looked back at the rubble, feeling an urge to continue. He deserved this… and he couldn't shake that feeling.

…

Shadow felt a flush of weakness and nausea in his stomach. He stopped for a few moments as he bent over and clutched his stomach. Rouge stopped to look at him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"N-nothing," Shadow said and straightened up.

"Didn't you get breakfast?" she asked.

"Breakfast?" Shadow asked, completely unsure of the word. Rouge chuckled.

"You don't know what breakfast is?" she asked. Shadow narrowed his eyes at her.

"Don't laugh. Tell me!" Shadow snapped.

"It's the meal you eat when you get up in the morning," Rouge said. Shadow still looked clueless.

"Get up?" he raised his eyes ridge further.

"Shadow... what do you do with your life?" she asked.

"I don't remember," he said as he looked off into the distance.

"And by the sounds of it, it doesn't involve much eating and sleeping," Rouge said. "You… do know what those are, don't you?" she asked hesitantly.

"Of course," Shadow said and glared at her. "I've not had any of it for as long as I can remember."

"You just pass out after battles and lose your memory," Rouge pointed out. Shadow sighed and moved back to the rubble. "Shadow, you're definitely coming to mine tonight, and we'll eat."

"You have your own place?" Shadow questioned.

"Why, yes," Rouge said. She smiled proudly. "I run my own business." Then she sighed. "I was lucky to keep it."

"Keep?"

"They were going to take it away from me," Rouge said as she stepped back towards the rubble. The two of them kept working while they talked.

"Why didn't they?"

Rogue shrugged.

"Suppose they like me," she said and winked at Shadow.

…

Shadow and Rouge walked down the streets of the casino zone. Rouge moved closer to Shadow, then wrapped her gloved arms around his bare one. Shadow accepted the gesture and walked with her without retaliation. But he showed no reaction on his face, because it didn't make him feel much.

"I'm so lucky that my club was outside of the danger zone," Rouge said. "A mile or two in, and it would have been gone in that huge explosion," she said. "The windows went, though. I've only just replaced them."

"We're just around the corner," Rouge said with a smile on her face. "I can't wait to shower, eat, sleep…." she sighed in relief. They turned the corner, and Rouge stopped, looking ahead. Shadow glanced at her face, horror was registering on her face. "The windows!" she let go of Shadow's arm and ran a few meters towards it. It was a building of two storeys, and all of the windows were smashed. Sharp remnants of the glass remained attached to the frames.

"I can't afford to replace them again I-" she stopped at the doorway when she saw that it was open. Shadow walked quicker when he saw her going inside. What if the culprits were inside? He followed close behind her and saw the interior of the club, covered with graffiti and filled with smashed furniture. Glasses and bottles were smashed all over the bar, the contents spilled out in a large puddle, congealed together. There was a strong smell of alcohol in the room as a result.

"Oh, Shadow. What am I going to do!?" she exclaimed. Shadow was silent, he had no clue. Rouge walked over to the bar, glass crunched below her feet. He saw the words messily sprawled all over the walls.

"Scum," he said it aloud. "Why do they think you're scum?"

Rouge looked at Shadow emotionally, then broke into tears. She walked over to him and collapsed into his torso. Shadow caught her, but kept his arms by his sides as the fact that Rouge had done such a thing hadn't registered yet. When he realised, he looked at Rouge with wide eyes, but she didn't notice, because she buried her head on Shadow's shoulder. Shadow opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Then he gave in and wrapped his arms around her, very slowly and gradually, nonetheless, with robotic movements.

"I'll help you fix this," Shadow said. "I'll put all of my wages towards fixing this place."

"It's no good," Rouge said. "My name is ruined. They all think I'm scum now, and who would run a club run by scum?"

"You don't know that. It might be one person," Shadow said. "The rest may not agree." Rouge pulled away from Shadow and looked at him in confusion.

"Shadow… do you have any idea why it was only our kind working on Westopolis today," she rasped. Shadow looked at her; he didn't know, and wanted answers. "Where have you been this past month since you defeated Black Doom?"

Shadow shrugged.

"What, you forgot about _that_ too?" she asked. Shadow didn't answer; he didn't want Rouge to know where he really was, with the Commander, getting questioned and beaten. The man obviously had a lot of anger against Shadow, for killing his only family. Shadow was angry with himself too. "Shadow-" Rouge snapped him out of his thoughts. "Do you know why this happened to me?"

Shadow raised his eye ridges in an impatient curiosity, ducking his head forward.

"We…. were blamed for the invasion," she said and looked to the side.

"We?"

"Us… sapients," Rouge said and looked down sadly. "I mean… we weren't exactly loved before the invasion. The invasion was just a 'real' reason to hate us."

"But it wasn't your- our-" Shadow stuttered. "It was the Black Doom. He invaded because of his own decision. It was no one else's fault."

"Well, that's not what the majority thinks," Rouge said bitterly. "And now…" she looked around the room, then sighed.

"We'll stop this. We can let everyone know the truth," Shadow said.

"The truth doesn't matter! Nobody wants to know the truth!" she exclaimed. "They just want someone to blame for their problems."

Shadow frowned; he felt genuine sadness for her. His stomach broke the silence.

"We'd… better get food," Rouge said sadly and walked towards the staff door. Shadow sighed as as he heard her walked up the stairs.

"It's fine," he said and followed behind her. Just as he walked through the same door, Rouge screamed.


	3. Chapter 3

Shadow ran up after her and his jaw dropped when he saw the state Rouge's flat was in. The same damage was done to her personal living space. Rouge saw spinning on her heels, looking around frantically.

"I guess I won't be getting that food, then," Shadow said under his breath. "Do you have anywhere else you can stay?"

"No… other than-" She looked to the window. Shadow furrowed his brow as he also looked around the room.

"What?"

"GUN…" she said.

"They'd take you in?" Shadow asked.

"Maybe…" Rouge said.

"But you'd be staying in a cell," Shadow guessed.

"Yes," She said. Shadow caught glimpse of her looking straight at him from the corner of his eye, and looked back at her.

"Shadow, can you check the bedroom for me?" she asked softly. Shadow nodded, and Rouge pointed to the bedroom door. He did as she asked without a word. The bedroom was untouched.

"It's fine," he said loudly. "They didn't come in here."

…

Shadow stood at the bedroom window, looking out over the dimly lit street. Rouge stirred in her sleep; Shadow could hear her shuffling under the duvet.

"Shadow…?" she said groggily.

"Hmm?"

"I thought you said you'd come to bed," she said. "Come on, there's enough room under here."

"I don't need to sleep," Shadow said. "I want to stay here."

"Come on, just a nap," she urged.

"I said I don't need to," Shadow said with a firmer tone. Then he could sense her sad look drilling into his back. He rolled his eyes back in annoyance, and his shoulders drooped as he gave in. "Fine," he said softly and turned to face her, then saw her mouth change from a frown to a smile. Shadow sat on the bed and fiddled with his shoes, trying to take them off. He struggled.

"Shadow, when was the last time you took those off?" Rouge asked as she sat up. She reached her hand over to her side of the double bed and turned on the lamp on the bedside table. Shadow turned his head and saw that Rouge was peering over his shoulder. Shadow put his hands at his sides on the bed.

"Do you mind?"

"Need a hand?" she asked. Shadow shook his head and continued to tug at his shoes, gritting his teeth. "You sure?"

"NO!" Shadow snapped, and the shoe flew off and hit the wall, he fell backwards. He felt Rouge catch him with the palms of her hands. There was a moment of silence. Shadow didn't know what to say or do. He was paralyzed with embarrassment.

"Shadow?" Rouge asked uncomfortably, she was still holding his body up. "Do you mind… moving, perhaps?"

Shadow leaned forward then stood up. He walked towards the bedroom door. His steps were wonky and uneven, since he still had one shoe on.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Out," he said lowly and left the room.

"But, your shoe!"

The door clicked shut. Shadow was gone from the room. He only went as far as the main living area and stood by the window in peace. Rouge followed him hurriedly.

"Shadow, if you don't get some sleep, you'll pass out and lose your memory again," Rouge said.

"Maybe that would be the best thing for me," Shadow mumbled quietly.

"What?"

"Nothing," Shadow sighed as he rested his hands on the windowsill.

It was true. Not knowing who he was or anything about himself was certainly troubling, but it wasn't as bad as this… knowing the truth. Couldn't he at least go back to having those other memories instead? The ones he thought that were his. Now he had a mix of both, and it confused and tore at him. Why did he have to remember living two separate tragedies at the same time?

"Please, Shadow. Sleep."

"I'll… try," Shadow said, and looking down ashamedly. His grip on the windowsill tightened. He got a sudden urge… to jump. He leant forwards slightly, looking down as best the window pane would allow him. They were only one floor above the ground. That wouldn't do him much damage. His arms trembled at the thought of it. Death… or just the chance to forget everything. Yes please.

He forced himself to turn away from the window to see the sadness on Rouge's face. She was actually… concerned for him. It was hard for Shadow to believe.

"Shadow, where were you in the last month?" Rouge asked sadly.

Shadow cursed under his breath and flicked his head to the side in irritation. She was bringing that up again.

"Why is that important?" Shadow asked.

"Because I think it's bothering you," Rouge said. Shadow tensed up. No, she got it wrong. But… she wasn't that far off. It wasn't the past month that bothered him, it was everything he remembered during it. It all came flooding back during his 'interview' with the commander. "You were locked up with GUN weren't you?"

"STOP!" Shadow snapped. There was a tense silence. Only Shadow's angry, heavy breathing could be heard. The rage erupted from his red glowing eyes, standing out in the darkness of the room.

"I'm not scared of you, Shadow," Rouge said firmly, but Shadow couldn't help but pick up the subtle tremble in her voice.

"You are," he sneered. But not in disgust at Rouge, no. It was at himself. Who wouldn't be afraid of him? He was a monster, and nothing more. "Bring me my shoe. I'm leaving."

"Go and get it yourself, you jerk," Rouge snapped.

Yes, Shadow thought. That's exactly what he wanted. For Rouge to cast him out. It wouldn't hurt her as much for him to leave, if she wanted him gone anyway. Shadow forced a glare at her, then bounded past her into the bedroom. He walked straight back out again once he picked up the shoe, then walked straight towards the front door.

"Shadow, please don-"

Shadow slammed it before Rouge could finish her sentence, then fled down the stairs and out of the door before Rouge could even think of chasing him.

...

"Who am I?" Shadow found himself asking again. Finding the truth to his past had brought up more questions than before. Before the Black Arms invasion, he had a fraction of a memory, which confused him. Now he had two, which confused him even more. Which one defined him? The one that was factually true, or the one he felt was true? He was getting punished for being the Shadow from the first set of memories, but he felt like the Shadow from the second set of memories. Really, who was he now?

He stood up, being careful not to lose his balance. He was on top of a skyscraper, one that hadn't been destroyed by the Black Arms invasion. He felt it swaying and crumbling in the wind every so often, however. A part of him hoped that it would just collapse under him and that would be it. But, he still had to pay for what he'd done. He couldn't cop out now. He'd decided that during his mope.

"I hope I didn't upset her too much," Shadow said ashamedly as he remembered Rouge. "She needs to learn to keep out of my business but…" The shame kept flowing. He took a step away from the edge of the building, the walked towards the ladder that would take him to the ground. As he walked into the middle of the roof, halfway towards his exit, he felt the building sway again. He tensed up and his breath got caught in his throat when he heard a slightly crumble. He stayed as still as possible. But the wind kept blowing. It even picked up.

"D-damn," Shadow trembled as he tip-toed towards the edge quickly. But there was a loud crash, dust plumed upwards and outwards, and Shadow felt the floor below him give. He was in midair, but not for long. Once second he felt the vertigo of falling from a height, the next second, nothing.

…

Shadow walked into GUN Headquarters, clutching his right side with his left arm. He limped, walking carefully as not to flare up any agonising pain in his ribs again. He wasn't far into the building before he was stopped by the soldiers there.

"Project Shadow, where have you been!?" one of them asked, gun pointed at the hedgehog.

"I… don't remember," Shadow said. "All I remember was… staying with Rouge and then-" It flooded back then. "How long was I gone?"

"We've been looking for you for three days," the soldier said sternly. "The Commander will want to see you immediately." The soldier nudged Shadow with his long rifle. "Come with me."

Shadow was coaxed down the hallway and pushed into the Commander's office. He creased up in pain as the barrel of the gun poked him in the back, hurting his ribs again. Shadow looked up at the Commander, who had a satisfied grin on his face. Shadow could tell that the Commander could not wait to discipline him.

…

Shadow limped into the staffroom where Rouge was sitting. The bat looked up from the magazine she was reading, and gawked at Shadow in surprise.

"What?" Shadow asked miserably.

"Where were you!?"

"Away from here," Shadow said, a tactical truth.

"Doing what?" Rouge asked.

"Sleeping, like you told me." Another tactical truth. He was sleeping, very deeply, under a thick duvet of rubble.

"Did you sleep fight by any chance?" Rouge asked dryly, not believing a word Shadow said.

"Yes," Shadow said. Yet another tactical truth. He was fighting, for his life.

"I can't believe you, Shadow!" Rouge exclaimed as she stood up. The magazine slid from her lap onto the floor. "That you'd leave for 3 days and then tell a bunch of lies!"

"Why? You said I was a jerk. You didn't want me around," Shadow said.

"That was just an argument. Friends have those," Rouge said yelled, but softened up. "And… I was worked up." She looked down sadly.

"Because of what happened to-" Shadow stopped talking when he noticed that Rouge was crying again. He tensed up; she required another hug, and the last one was awkward enough. Shadow took a few steps towards her. "I lost it, Shadow," Rouge said through her tears. Shadow stopped walking.

"Lost your… temper?" Shadow asked hesitantly. Rouge shook her head, sobbing even more. That's when Shadow instinctively ran towards her and wrapped his arms around her tightly. This was strange, Shadow thought to himself. The hug came naturally this time… and it wasn't awkward. "I lost my club!" she wailed. Shadow's eyes widened.

"But we… were going to fix it… together," Shadow said in shock. "Why?"

"A lot of us have lost our businesses recently," Rouge croaked. "I… was one of the last ones. The windows… and the damage… it was the last straw. The government took the business. It's all gone."

"But, your home," Shadow said.

"It's here now," she said weakly. "This place is all I have."

"You sleep in a cell now?" Shadow asked. Rouge nodded, her head still on Shadow's shoulder. Shadow felt the nod, rather than saw it. "And… I probably will too." There was silence. Shadow felt disappointed. He was looking forward to helping Rouge build the business back up. And it was a decent place to stay. It was private, and homely. But now it was gone.

A rumble from a stomach disturbed the silence.

"Sorry," Shadow said instinctively.

"No, that was me this time," Rouge said, pulling away with a blush. "I'm fed on their terms now. Not my own. Man, I wish the restaurant just down the road was still open… I'd be there every day."

"You're being punished too?" Shadow asked.

"Punished?" Rouge questioned.

"They're not feeding you… to punish you, right?" Shadow asked.

"No. They feed me. The meals just aren't enough sometimes," Rouge said in confusion. "Why would you think that…" she trailed off. "Shadow…" Shadow looked down, hoping the subject would just blow away. "Are they starving you as punishment?" Shadow shrugged. "They are, aren't they?"

"It's not like I need food," Shadow grumbled. "I'm the ultimate life form."

"The way you nearly collapsed the other day says otherwise," Rouge said.

"Alright, back to work, you two!"

Shadow and Rouge turned around to see a soldier walking away from the room.

"Let's go," Rouge said sadly and walked to the door.

"Same place?" Shadow asked. He saw Rouge nod from behind her, so he followed silently.

Before the two of them could leave the building, however, they were stopped by the Commander.


	4. Chapter 4

"You're not going out there, Shadow. I've decided it's best to keep you here," he said. "So you don't go missing for 3 days again."

"I told you, I didn't mean to!" Shadow snapped.

"Perhaps if you actually told me what happened, I would let you off," the Commander said.

"He won't even tell me what happened," Rouge folded her arms and looked at Shadow sternly. Shadow sweatdropped and looked down to hide a blush that was forming on his face. He didn't want to bring up the event. He was ashamed he went there; ashamed at what he'd done. He had no problem with destroying the building. It was the reason he was up there, and knowing how much he was questioned, they were bound to ask him why. But he had to say something, the Commander and Rouge were looking impatient with him.

"I don't remember," Shadow said. "I think I was unconscious."

"You think?"

"Yes! I think I was! I remember waking up then coming here! I assume I was asleep the whole time!" Shadow snapped, his fur standing up on his back in a fury.

"I'd watch that short temper of yours, Shadow," the Commander said.

"Where did you wake up?" Rouge asked. Shadow narrowed his eyes and looked away. "Shadow!"

"Rouge, don't bother with him. Just go to work," the Commander stepped aside from the door. Rouge looked at Shadow in concern, then walked through the door. Shadow attempted to follow her like normal, but the Commander grabbed Shadow by the quill on the back of his head. Shadow yelped as he was tugged backwards. The Commander slammed the door and looked down at Shadow ominously.

"I'm getting to the bottom of this. You must be hiding something important," the Commander said.

"It's nothing!" Shadow yelled. "Let me go!"

"Shadow, you should be thankful for this. You get a morning off work."

…

Shadow sat in the Commander's office, face in his hands. The Commander looked at him dryly.

"You were making a big fuss over that," he said in disbelief.

Shadow nodded from behind the shelter of his hands.

"Get out of my site," the Commander said. "I should punish you for wasting my time, but I think the embarrassment is enough."

Shadow kept his head low as he left the room.

"Have fun explaining it to Rouge," the Commander added snidely before Shadow closed the door behind him. The hedgehog took in a deep breath, then left.

…

Rouge stopped what she was doing and looked at Shadow in disbelief.

"You… made a-"

"Yes! I made a fuss over nothing!" Shadow yelled as he waved his arms in anger. "Okay! Just drop it." He grit his teeth in anger. He felt a sense of relief, however. The ordeal was over, and he didn't have to talk about it again. The two of them got back to work, before Rouge spoke up again.

"Wait, why were you up there?" she asked. Shadow dropped the rubble he had in his hands. It cracked and crumbled, so dust plumed out from it. It reminded Shadow of the building.

"I… thought it was safe," he lied and darted his eyes away.

"Shadow, none of these buildings are safe anymore. If no one inhabits them, it's because they're unsafe to live in," Rouge scolded.

"I didn't know that," Shadow hissed. "Can we just drop it?"

"If it will stop you from storming off again," Rouge said. Shadow grit his teeth to stop himself from snapping yet again. He just wished everyone would stop bringing up the past. He had a bad enough past to deal with without the past of a few days ago haunting him. Is this how his life would play out from now on? All of his actions would haunt him, no matter how insignificant they were.

Shadow was snapped out his thoughts as his stomach rumbled loudly. He clutched his abdomen as he felt his knees go weak.

"D-damn…" he hissed. "I thought that meal I had a few days ago could keep me going."

"Did I just hear you correctly?" Rouge asked. "You thought one meal would keep you going?" Shadow looked at Rouge through the slits his narrowed eyes would allow in his discomfort. He nodded. "No, Shadow. You should eat at least 3 meals a day. Especially with all of the physical work you're doing."

"Do you eat more than 3 meals a day?" Shadow asked.

"I did when I got to choose what I eat," Rouge said. "Eat little and often. It keeps your metabolism going."

"Right…" Shadow said, suddenly sounding uninterested.

"Hey, you! Get back to work!"

Shadow turned around to see a human standing a distance from them.

"Yes, you!"

Shadow grumbled a few complaints under his breath and continued cleaning up rubble. Rouge had continued to work as she talked. Shadow had not been so smart.

"Well," Shadow said as he picked up the bits of rubble he'd created when he dropped the large chunk earlier. "I'm not on punishment anymore, since I told the commander the truth. So, I'll get to eat tonight."

"That's a relief to hear," Rouge said. "You probably wouldn't have lasted, otherwise."

…

Rouge looked at her watch.

"Only ten minutes to go," Rouge said. "Then we can go back to a nice warm meal."

"Wonderful," Shadow said with no emotion as he brushed some dust off his fur.

"Oh, and a shower," Rouge said with a smile of bliss.

"Privacy," Shadow mumbled. Rouge didn't catch that, though.

Suddenly, they were snapped out of their fantasies when a human began shouting through a megaphone.

"Don't start packing up quite yet. We need to finish this area by the end of the day, and we found a recently collapsed building. That should set you all back a few hours," he announced. There was malice in his voice.

Shadow stopped and looked at Rouge with widened eyes.

"Shadow…" Rouge growled.

"Yes….?" Shadow asked hesitantly.

"That doesn't happen to be the building you collapsed, does it?" she asked through gritted teeth. Shadow forced a shrug.

"I could be," he said dismissively.

"Is it!?" Rouge yelled.

"Yes," Shadow said ashamedly as he looked down. But then he put out his arms frantically. "But, it was going to fall down anyway! It was unstable, remember?" Rouge continued to give him dirty looks anyway.

"I was looking forward to that shower," she said as she threw more rubble into the metal containers.

…

The two of them stumbled into GUN HQ after dark, sweaty, dirty, and tired.

"Well, at least the Commander won't be here," Rouge said. "I'm pretty sure he clocks out at about 6, and it's nearly 9 now."

"Unless he stayed to wait for us," Shadow said.

"Shadow, he does have a life, you know," Rouge said.

"Hmm, a person like him. I thought he spent his whole life trying to make ours miserable," Shadow said as they turned a corner in the corridor.

"Is that so?"

Shadow stopped in his tracks and looked up to see the Commander, looking very annoyed.

...

"Well, it's interesting what you think of me, hedgehog?" the Commander said as he folded his arms. Shadow's eyes began to dart in all directions.

"C-commander. You're still here? I thought you… had a life to get out to," Shadow said nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Your nerves are fitting. No food for you tonight," The Commander said stoically.

"GAH! NO!" Shadow cried out in frustration and pulled at his quills. He's been looking forward to that meal all day, and it had been cruelly snatched from him.

"Commander, you need to let him eat. He's going to collapse from exhaustion otherwise," Rouge pleaded.

"And? Do you think I care for his well being?" the Commander asked, looking down at Shadow in disgust. "You have no idea what he's done."

Shadow tensed up, he looked up at the Commander with pleading eyes. He wasn't going to reveal the secret, was he?

"I know everything Shadow did. I was with him that whole time he tried to take revenge," Rouge folded her arms.

"What about before that?" the Commander asked. "Fifty years ago."

"Stop!" Shadow yelled.

"Refusing him food for one more day is nothing compared to what he did," the Commander said angrily. Rouge looked at Shadow worriedly. Shadow caught her glance and felt himself get hotter, and his throat close up slightly.

"Stop, please…" Shadow said and put his hands on his head. He felt those memories flooding back again. "Don't…" He dropped to his knees.

The commander smirked, seeing it caused Shadow pain.

An image flashed in Shadow's mind. Blood. Everywhere. The blood of his victims. Bodies, laying on the metallic floor of the ark. White coats, stained with red. Another image flashed. Looking down at his own hands. The white gloves, no longer white. All red. Covered with blood. The blood of his victims. Another image. A girl standing in the doorway, face contorted in horror as she looks over the dead bodies.

Shadow closed his eyes at tight as possible and began shaking his head frantically, attempting to get the images out of his mind.

Another image. Focusing on the girl more now. She looks young, fragile, innocent. Her eyes are blue and wide, full of pain and emotion, mainly fear. Her hair is thin and blonde, and sits on her shoulders. Another image. She notices Shadow, and her eyes widen in fear even more. A scream. Shadow hears a scream in his mind. Another image. The scream is silenced. Shadow bounds towards her and knocks a blow to her head. Another image. Dead body of girl. More blood pools onto the floor from her head.

Shadow began crying, tears streamed down his muzzle. This was the memory he didn't want to remember in such vivid detail. Rouge dropped down by Shadow's side and rubbed his back gently.

"Shadow, calm down," Rouge said.

"Maybe now you'll suffer as much as I did," the Commander said in disgust.

"Was that really necessary?" Rouge snapped at the Commander.

"Yes, considering what he did," the Commander said. "You should know. That Maria girl he mourned over so much."

"No! Don't say it! Don't tell her!" Shadow cried out from the fetal position he'd crawled into. He grunted in pain as a sharp wave of memories shot through his skull again.

A new image. The poor girl, dead. She doesn't move at all. Feeling no remorse. She was nothing. New Image. Looking up. Hearing a man shout the name of the dead girl. "MARIA!" Maria? Where had Shadow heard that name before? From his creator. And there his creator is, running towards him. New Image. The professor, stood over Maria's body, looking over it in shock. "What have you done!?" Confusion. Why is the creator upset? Is this girl… important to him? "That's my granddaughter!" New Image. The professor is on his knees, crying over his granddaughters dead body. Of course, Maria. She's been mentioned before. That's why Shadow was created… to save her life. Instead…

"He killed her," the Commander. "Shadow is the one who killed Maria."

"SHUT UP!" Shadow shot to his feet. Rouge fell back and stumbled to the floor. On the way up, a chaos spear shot from Shadow's hand. The hedgehog didn't even plan it. It just happened. Shadow looked at the Commander in shock and horror. Blood began spurting from his neck.

"Shadow!?" Rouge screamed.

Hurried footsteps from down the hall sounded.

"We need to get out of here," Shadow said, and grabbed Rouge's arm.

"N-no!" Rouge retaliated and looked to the Commander.

"Move!" Shadow snarled. "You can't save him." He dragged her down the hall and out of the exit before anyone could arrive on the scene.

"Shadow! Stop!"

Shadow did just that, then swung around to face Rouge.

"You do that if you wish, but I need to leave!" Shadow yelled at her, then shot down the pathway to freedom. Rouge took in a deep breath as she made her decision, then leapt up and began gliding after Shadow.


	5. Chapter 5

"I swear, if you stick another needle into me-" Human hands are batted away.

"We should restrain Project Shadow. It's not co-operating," one of the scientists says.

"No!"

A button is pressed on the wall on the far side of the room. A buzzing sounds. Not long after, an older man enters the room.

"Professor. Tell them to stop prodding me with needles!"

"Shadow. What did I tell you about co-operating?" the professor says. "This testing is necessary."

Pressure builds up, teeth are grit.

"For who?"

"Maria. You know this," the professor says impatiently.

Struggling continues. The humans are not allowed access to the body parts they want to inject into.

"Okay, sedate him, and I'll strap him onto the table again," the professor says.

"No! Don't touch me you scum!"

"Did you need to teach him how to speak, Gerald?" one of the humans says in dismay.

"He just picked it up," the professor says. "I swear, I didn't teach him to say words like that."

Sharp pain. A prod in the side. They've managed to stab him with a needle.

"Okay, he should be out in a few moments…"

Voices fade out. Light fades out.

Shadow gasped as he woke up. His heart beat in his chest quickly, and his stomach twisted, which made him feel queasy. He looked to his side frantically. Rouge was there, sleeping on her right side, facing away from Shadow. Shadow looked up to see leaves and branches. They were under a tree. He remembered where he was.

"Of course… I ran away…" Shadow said quietly, while in deep thought. "That was… just… a dream." If only it was _just_ a dream. "I knew it was a bad idea to sleep." He stood up. That made Rouge stir. "Damn." He didn't want to face Rouge at that moment. Not after what he'd done to her. He'd torn her away from the comfort of employment and shelter.

"Shadow…" she mumbled groggily.

"Not here," Shadow said as he walked away suddenly.

"C-could you, go out and get some food by any chance?" Rouge called out after him nervously. Shadow stopped in thought.

"Where from?" Shadow asked.

"Anywhere."

"Alright," Shadow nodded and ran down the grassy hill to look for a city that still functioned after the Black Arms invasion.

…

Shadow stood in front of a building that had the word 'Supermarket' in large lettering above the door.

"No food in the title," Shadow said. "I don't think this is the right place." He turned around to see if any of the other buildings had fitting titles for places that held food. "I wonder what they'd sell in a supermarket anyway…" he mused as he walked down the empty street. It was way past midnight, and almost pitch black, apart from moonlight and a dim orange flickering light from the only working street lamp. "Food. Where would I get food?" The echoes of his shoes tapping against the pavement stopped. "I'm sure that Rouge mentioned a 'restaurant' once… maybe there's food there."

He searched the streets for a 'restaurant'. He had no idea what one looked like, but eventually he saw one. "Yes, that looks right," he said as he looked at the sign over the door. There was a pictogram symbol for food. Now that's something Shadow understood. The door was mostly made of glass. Brilliant. Easy to break. Shadow elbowed the glass, and it broke into thousands of tiny pieces, and scattered onto the floor. He stepped through the empty frame and looked around. There were nothing but tables and chairs, but he saw several doors. Two of them had pictogram for humans on them, but one had a triangle on them. Then there was the same for sapients, which had shorter looking symbols, and smaller triangles sticking out of the circle heads.

Suddenly, a human burst out of a completely different door with a gun.

Shadow immediately knocked the gun out of his hand with a Chaos Spear.

"Don't mess with me," Shadow barked. "I've already killed today. I'm not afraid to do it again." That was a lie. The last thing he wanted to do was kill again.

"Wh-what do you want!?" the man trembled. "Money? I have money. Take it!"

"No," Shadow said. "Food."

The man was taken aback by this.

"This is a restaurant, right?" Shadow asked.

"... Yes?"

"Make me some food!" Shadow demanded. He formed another Chaos Spear. "Or else."

"Okay, okay!" the man yelled. Shadow followed him into the kitchen, Chaos Spear at the ready, just in case.

…

Shadow returned to Rouge, several bags of food served up for takeaway. It was warm, and emitted an inviting fragrance. She woke up again, maybe from the smell itself. It was so inviting; it made Shadow feel ravenously hungry.

"Wow, Shadow, how did you-"

"That doesn't matter," Shadow said.

"Okay…" Rouge said warily as she sat up. "What do you have?" she asked.

"A bit of everything," Shadow said as he set the bags down.

"No wonder you were gone a while," Rouge mumbled. "Well, I suppose we should eat it before it gets cold." She opened the bags up and looked through them. Shadow went into the bag closest to him and picked up the food in the box on the top. He opened it up, and looked at the round, flat thing inside it.

"Hmm…" he looked at the object in confusion. "I wonder what this is…"

"It's a pizza. Oh, it smells so good," Rouge said in delight. She reached her hand over. "Can I-" Shadow swatted the hand away.

"Don't touch it!"

Rouge shuffled backwards and watched Shadow in confusion, but also a bit of interest.

Shadow admired the food for a little longer, then put his face up close to it and smelt it. His eyes rolled into the back of his head. It smelt of bliss. Then he grabbed a piece and shoved it into his mouth. Rouge watched with wide eyes, certainly finding this behaviour strange. Shadow took a while to chew the pizza, given that he shoved the whole slice in his mouth, but when he swallowed, he closed his eyes.

"Okay, now you can try a piece," he said and pushed the box over to Rouge.

"Why thank you," Rouge said with a forced sense of gratitude. Shadow stood up and began walking away. "What, finished eating already? You need more than that, Shadow."

"I'll be right back. I forgot drinks." He shot off down the hill again. Rouge sighed and continued eating.

...

The next day, Shadow and Rouge set off to get as far away from GUN HQ as they could. They couldn't risk getting seen, especially after Shadow's hold up in the restaurant. Shadow made sure to take the leftovers with him, though. He wasn't leaving those behind.

While Shadow ran and Rouge flew beside him, they were blown backwards with great force by a blue wind that shot past them with no consideration. The contents of the bags splattered over the floor, which got Shadow extremely worked up, until he realised that the pizza was still safe.

The blue wind died down, and Shadow saw a blue hedgehog skid to a stop.

"Shadow? Rouge?" he said in surprise, and jogged towards them. Sonic arrived at the scene as Shadow was picking the packaged leftovers up from the grassy floor. "Wait! It's true!"

"What is?" Rouge asked, sounding irritated.

"It's you who robbed that chef last night. It's all over the news," Sonic said with a massive grin on his face.

"Yes, what of it, Faker?" Shadow asked and glared at the blue hedgehog.

"It's hilarious!" Sonic exclaimed, then pointed at Shadow and began laughing. "You held him at gunpoint so he'd cook for you!"

"What!?" Rouge exclaimed.

"Lies," Shadow said calmly and turned his nose up. "I didn't have a gun."

"Shadow!" Rouge yelled. "You've made it even worse for yourself."

"How can it get worse, Rouge?" Shadow asked in spite. "It can't get any worse for me."

"We need to get far away from here," Rouge said in a panic. "They'll be searching for us."

"How do they know it's me?" Shadow asked.

"How many other overpowered hedgehogs do you know?" Rouge asked as she folded her arms and looked at Shadow sternly.

"There's one there, perhaps they'll go after Sonic by mistake," Shadow pointed to the blue hedgehog.

"They identified you already. GUN's looking for ya'," Sonic said smugly. "So there's no way they're making that mistake again."

"They're being open about my existence this time?" Shadow asked in surprise. This was not good.

"Yep, so you'd better run," Sonic said. Shadow grit his teeth, grabbed the food he could salvage and started running.

"See you again, Sonic," Rouge said and glided after Shadow.

"Damn that Faker," Shadow grumbled under his breath.

"Why are you cursing Sonic? He warned us," Rouge said in defense.

"He's annoying," Shadow said. "And the way he talked, it was almost as if he's rooting for me to get caught."

"He's only messing you around," Rouge said as they rushed over another grassy hill. "Sonic's always like that."

"No. What if he hates me," Shadow said, sounding troubled.

"And that matters to the ultimate life form?" Rouge teased.

"He didn't seem so harsh before," Shadow said. "What if he knows?"

Rouge didn't answer.

"What if they broadcast the truth…"

"I don't think they'd go that far, Shadow. It would cause mass panic. And… it's not even true," Rouge said. Shadow skidded to a stop.

"Not true? What are you talking about!?" Shadow snapped.

"What the Commander said," Rouge said as she hovered in front of Shadow, wings flapping elegantly. "I'm sure he was just saying that to try to mess with you." Shadow grit his teeth and looked away with a hiss of breath. "Don't let his lies convince you."

"They're not lies!" Shadow snapped. Then the two of them were left to the pain of silence. Shadow's heavy breath filled some of it, but it only made the atmosphere worse by revealing his anger.

"Shadow…" Rouge said as she landed on the floor. She took a few steps back as her eyes widened in surprise, more and more as if she was coming to some horrible realisations. "No, you're better than that." She sounded very unsure of herself.

"No. I'm nothing but a monster. I baffles me how you've stood by my side this long," Shadow said and turned his back to her. Cold again.

"But Shadow… all that you did for her…" Rouge said sadly.

"Lies," Shadow said. "Lies I was even telling myself."

"It was all an act," Rouge asked, a hint of anger in her voice.

"No," Shadow said. "I truly believed it… until recently, when I remembered the real truth."

"Which is that you-"

"YES!" Shadow interrupted, he didn't want to hear those words. They still tore at his heart. "Now, I suggest that you return to GUN and tell them I kidnapped you. I'm willing to take the consequences."

"No… I should… stick with you," Rouge said forcibly.

"You obviously don't want to be around me!" Shadow yelled as he swung around to face her. "So go!"

Rouge looked hurt, but she did as she was told.

"You're not as bad as you think you are, Shadow. I know you feel guilty," Rouge said solemnly, then glided in the direction they came from. The hedgehog, now alone, sighed sadly.

"She's wrong," Shadow said to himself as he kept his head down while she walked. "The guilt doesn't make up for what I've done."

…

Shadow reached the outskirts of a new city. When he saw it in the distance, he decided to turn in another direction. He had to avoid people, because if he was seen, it was over for him. But, as he was about to leave, something caught his eyes. Many trucks were leaving the city one after the other. This made the hedgehog feel uneasy. Something was not right about this. He sensed a cluster of small energies of chaos. Many of them, and they got fainter and fainter as the trucks got further away. These military vehicles were holding something important.

Shadow clenched his fist in determination, then ran towards the trucks, being sure to keep his distance. Then, when the timing was right, he sent a cluster of chaos spears at the tyres of all of them. They all screeched, swerved and crashed into each other. They stopped in as a group on the side of motorway. GUN soldiers stumbled out of the driving section in the front. The back door of one of the trucks, damaged in the crash, was flung open. Then, sapients began flooding out, looking distressed. The soldiers aimed their guns at the escaping people, so they all stopped in fear. Shadow's eyes widened. Why were so many of his own kind taken prisoner?

One of the sapients made a run for it, and was immediately shot. That's when Shadow's blood boiled over in a sudden flush of hot rage, and he released more spears as all of the humans. A few more humans jumped out of the trucks and began shooting at Shadow. The hedgehog cursed under his breath and dodged; he'd compromised his position. Shadow took all of them out without a second thought, then ran down the hill towards the road where all of the prisoners were clustered and shaking in fear. Women, children and men alike. Whole families of many species. Shadow looked at them in shock and confusion, then spoke up.

"What's going on here!?" he barked.

He was only looked at fearfully.

"Someone talk!" Shadow yelled.

"We were all rounded up out of nowhere!" someone yelled at impulse. "The humans don't want us sapients around anymore."

Shadow looked at them, perplexed by this information. _All_ sapients?

"Shit!" Shadow cursed, then ran back towards GUN HQ. He felt like an idiot for sending Rouge back there.


	6. Chapter 6

Shadow stormed into GUN HQ, all feelings of shame and guilt gone. All he wanted was to make sure Rouge was okay. As he entered the grounds and was spotted skating by, he was shot at. Shadow felt the echo go right through him, but no bullet. Shocked into action, he sent a spear back to where it came from and heard a drop. Then more shots, a whole sea of them.

"Chaos Control!" Shadow yelled, and time stopped there. He stood on the spot, and looked at the wall of bullets that was about to hit him from all directions. He swatted the floating wall of metal capsules to the side, then knocked out all of the guards in the area. The he picked up one of their guns, and walked inside.

Time continued, but he had his gun ready.

"WHERE'S ROUGE!?" he yelled. No answer, only shots. But Shadow was sure to dodge and shoot back before he was hurt. He grunted as a bullet grazed his side. That hurt. No forgiveness. He shot the machine gun wildly, and the constant stream took out any person that tried to cross paths with him.

One human lay on the floor twitching in pain. Shadow walked over to him, his steps echoed in the silence. Then he looked down upon the human like they were scum.

"Well?" Shadow asked emotionlessly, then pointed the gun at his head. The man cowered. "Where is Rouge?"

"With the rest of them… getting ready for departure," he shook. Shadow grit his teeth.

"To where?" he growled.

"Prison Island-"

WHACK! Shadow crushed his skull with the barrel of the gun, blood splattered, adding to the pools of splatters along the wall and floor.

"So being a monster isn't so bad," he mumbled under his breath as he took off down the corridor.

…

Shadow ran outside to see the last of the trucks leave the area.

"Damn! Too late!" he ran out after them. He aimed and shot his gun at the tyres, but he was out of bullets. He chucked the weapon on the floor in anger and sped after the trucks quickly. He sent the spears at them again, just like before. The trucks swerved and crashed before they could get onto the motorway this time.

Shadow ran to the doors in the back, but as soon as he opened the door-

BANG!

Shadow choked as he felt something pierce his chest. He coughed out a mouthful of blood and dropped to his knees.

"No…. it was an-"

"Ambush," the human stood above him said in malice.

"But Rouge…" Shadow rasped.

"Already gone."

"N-no!" Shadow formed a Chaos Spear, but his hand was shot. The hedgehog cried out in pain and grabbed it with his fine hand.

"Back to Prison Island, Project SHADOW," the man said triumphantly.

"I refuse!" Shadow exclaimed and pushed himself to get up, but was shot again. A split second of agony broke through his head, but before it could even register in Shadow's mind, he blacked out.

…

"Shadow, how many times do I have to tell you. This is for my granddaughter. It's for Maria," the professor says.

"I don't care about this Maria girl you keep talking about!" Try to move hands. Can't. They're stuck. "Get me off of this thing!"

"I understand, that you must feel hard done. You were brought into this world with no purpose other than to save someone else's life," the professor says sincerely. Anger. How can he say that? Surely I'm worth more than a mere life of one human. Try to move hands again, shaking frantically. "Stop trying to escape! You'll hurt yourself again." Correct. Pain on wrists and ankles. Did struggle too hard. Bruised and scraped. Ignore the pain. Don't show weakness.

"I'll have to give you something to protect those wrists of yours," the professor says.

"Hehe. Perhaps I'll bleed to death. Then how are you going to save that pathetic human you care for so much!" SHARP PAIN IN SIDE.

"Time to sleep again, Shadow…" the professor said angrily as he pulls away, needle in hand. He'd just used it to inject more sedatives. Feel the world blacking out.

…

"He's a monster! A Black Arms hybrid! All he wants to do is kill others!" Shadow heard a yell as he came to. "Just freeze him again!"

"We can use him! All we have to do is change his memory again like Gerald did and he's ours!" another voice yelled from around the corner.

"Oh yeah? And how did that turn out? He's turned back into a cold blooded murderer!"

Shadow's eyes widened as he realised what was going on. He was strapped into a cryochamber. He heard footsteps.

"Fine, let's just seal him before he wakes up."

"NO!" Shadow yelled. Two men showed their faces from outside the chamber. Like two men looking into a baby's cot. Shadow looked up at them pleadingly. "I was just trying to save my friend."

"We're not falling for that one, buddy," one of the men said. Shadow growled at them.

"Well you're still going to let me go anyway!" he snarled, dropping the act.

"Goodbye, Project SHADOW. Preferably forever this time," the other said dryly. They both turned to the control panel.

"N-no way…" Shadow struggled. "Chaos…"

"Quick!"

"BLAST!"

The men were too late. The time they wasted arguing was their downfall. Shadow stumbled out of the wreckage he'd caused. A fire blazed, and an alarm blasted through the area.

"Time to find Rouge."

…

Shadow left a sea of carnage and destruction behind him wherever he went, until he reached the bottom floor of the prison structure. This is where the sapients were hidden. He walked down the long corridor towards the large metal door. The last piece of security, which was easily broken through with a Chaos Blast.

"GUN wasn't expecting someone to save them," Shadow said. "I suppose they didn't count on a sapient as strong as me to care." Then he stopped in shock. There was a few meters between him and a set of bars that closed off a large area, crowded with sapients of all ages, species and sizes. Many of them ran towards the metal bars and began yelling in desperation for Shadow to let them all out.

"Huh?"

Shadow was clueless for a while. Just what was going on here? Through all of the yelled and shouting, he could make out one voice from the blend of others.

"SHADOW!"

It was Rouge. Shadow sent a Chaos Spear and sliced the bars into several pieces, but was bombarded by a flood of sapients trying to escape.

"WAIT!" Shadow yelled. "You'll all get killed if you leave this area!" Many of the escapees stopped at that. Rouge flew over to him, gliding above the crowd. She hugged Shadow tightly, nearly knocking him over in the process. Seeing Shadow was distracted, the crowd continued again. "Damn, this was a bad idea."

"Can't you get them all out with Chaos Control?" Rouge asked desperately. Shadow shook his head.

"Not all of them-"

Then he got an idea.

"Fly me to the front!" Shadow ordered. Rouge nodded, lifted him from the ground and flew him over the crowd and dropped him before all of them. Shadow led the way. Feelings of guilt gone again. Survival instinct on. Not only was he meant to survive, but everyone else. This killing machine would come in handy.

...

It was a while until Shadow came across any opposition, after all, he'd taken out most of the defences on his way there. They reached the stairs to the main floor.

"Stay on the stairs while I make sure this place is clear!" Shadow ordered the large group that trailed behind him. Then the hedgehog darted out onto the main floor. The corridor was eerily quiet. Shadow was expecting a bombardment of gunshots by now. Where were they? He walked down the long corridor, his heart rate increasing. When was it coming? Through this door?

He heard gunshots behind it. He tensed up, then ran down the long ominous corridor, darting towards the battle scene. Then silence fell again. Footsteps. Shadow stopped and listened out when he heard a faint eacho of them. They got closer and closer. Shadow formed a Chaos Spear in his hand. Then, the sound of a machine with legs drowned out those footsteps. Shadow's breathing quickened as he grit his teeth, ready to kill and destroy. The metal door slid open.

"CHAOS!-"

"SHADOW!?"

"FAKER!"

Shadow withdrew his Chaos Spear and looked at Sonic in surprise. Behind him was Tails in his little mech.

"What are you doing here!?" both of them yelled at eachother. "Saving everyone!" they both replied.

"Well, I did half of the work for you, Faker," Shadow said smoothly.

"So did I!" Sonic said. "Everything's taken out from this point onwards."

"We've got means of escape on the outside. Now hurry," Tails said. Shadow nodded.

"Rouge! Bring them up!" Shadow called back.

"Rouge is there? Have you seen Amy too?" Sonic called out frantically. Shadow shook his head. "Damn! She's got to be here!"

The sapients flooded through the door. Not long after, a young voice was heard calling out frantically.

"Sonic! Sonic! Sonic! I know you're there! I can sense you!"

Sonic's eyes widened as Amy burst out from the crowd and charged towards him, arms out. He attempted to escape, but was taken down by a glomp.

"Aww man, she can sense me now?" Sonic's muffled voice came as he was being crushed. Shadow rolled his eyes.

"There's no time for games," he said. "Let's get out of here!" He ran towards the exit, Rouge following quickly behind.

…

Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Rouge, and Amy saw off the hundreds of sapients in large planes.

"Where the hell did you get large things like that?" Shadow asked and folded his arms.

"Egghead," Sonic said.

"The doctor? He helped you?" Shadow asked in surprise.

"Yeah. Just came to us. Guess he didn't agree with this," Sonic said.

"Perhaps he just wanted to cause trouble for the Governement," Shadow said. "Distract them while he-"

"TAKES OVER THE WORLD!" Sonic butt in frantically. "Tails! We gotta go!"

The fox transformed his mech into a flying vehicle. Sonic picked Amy up without warning and jumped onto the wing.

"See ya' later!" Amy called out cheerily, gushing with happiness to be in Sonic's arms.

The plane took off, leaving Shadow and Rouge alone on the beach.

Shadow looked at Rouge in shame, expecting the bat to hate him even more for his heartless actions back inside. Instead, he got a very tight and sudden hug. Shadow wanted to ask her so many questions. Just why did she still stick with him despite his nature?

"Shadow…" she said in relief. "You're a hero."

"I'm a monster," Shadow said monotonously. "A living weapon."

"A very useful living weapon. You saved everyone," Rouge said.

"Sonic would have done it, even without me. I should have let them freeze me again," Shadow said in shame.

"Shadow! Stop talking this way!" Rouge exclaimed. "You may have killed in there, but it was for a good cause!"

"It wasn't for a good cause back then!" Shadow exclaimed. "Back on the ARK!"

"You were different back then," Rouge said softly. "But now you've been through a lot. You're more of a person than a living weapon."

Shadow thought about it for a moment.

"I… suppose…"

"Let's just get out of here before we're shot down or something," Rouge said, then grabbed onto the hedgehog's shoulder. Shadow nodded in silence.

"Chaos Control!"

…

"Shadow, what do you think earth is like?"

Maria's voice echoed through Shadow's head. The hedgehog smiled softly, grateful those nice memories had remained.

THE END


End file.
